By Evans Dakwa , News Editor
It was a day which counted in the corner of those who have always argued that the English Premier League is the most competitive and arguably the best league in the world. One shock result , another surprise defeat and a come back win punctuated by a sumptuous goal, add to that a team that was fighting to stay up last season climbing to third position, this was a day where the beauty of the Premier league was on display.
If Liverpool fans and the hierarchy at Anfield needed a reminder that Mo Salah is their prized asset, they got it today. With his team pinned against the wall by a stubborn Brighton that was playing with confidence that made a mockery of the fortress that Anfield is, the Egyptian delivered again where it mattered most for his team, scoring the priceless goal which took his team to the top of the log.
For the better part of 60 minutes, Liverpool played second fiddle to a Brighton side that played mesmerizing football which delighted even the neutrals. Liverpool was bossed and even though the Kop tried to do what it does best, it failed to lift their team aa Liverpool went into half time trailing courtesy of a beautiful goal from Kadioglu.
The first part of the second half did not really change much as Brighton stifled the life out of Liverpool until Cody Gakpo, one of the few leading lights for Liverpool today, showed up to equalise. That goal got Anfield going and within three minutes, the Egyptian magician did what ge does best, received a long ball, turn inside putting the ball to his favoured left side and unleashed a curler into the top left corner of the Brighton goal, giving goalkeeper Verbruggen no chance.
Brighton’s sting in the tail had been snuffed ou and Liverpool held on to collect maximum points with 2-1 win. The win gave manager Arne Slot the record of having the best start by any Liverpool new manager in the history of the club.
Elsewhere, champions Manchester City got a reality check and reminder that the defence of their title is not going to be a stroll in the park as they succumbed to a 2-1 loss at the hands of Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium. So lethargic and lifeless were the champions that Bournemouth had the luxury of missing a host of clear cut chances. Erling Haaland never got a sniff, Phil Foden looked a pale shadow of the player of the season he was last term and the team never got going.
A goal in each half for the Cherries courtesy of Semenyo, the big man who was a thorn in the flesh of City’s defence all afternoon and newboy Evanilson were enough to condemn the Manchester club to their first loss of the season in the process handing Bournemouth their first victory over them.
Gvardiol pulled one back for City to set a somewhat tense finish but it was not to be as the Champions dropped all points , surrendering their top spot to Liverpool landing on second position.
Earlier in the day, Arsenal were reminded just how much they miss their captain Martin Odegaard with blunt display that lacked creativity usually provided by the Norwegian. For all their possession, Arsenal never really looked like a threat registering just one shot on target the entire 90 minutes. They were undone by a classic Newcastle goal courtesy of the Swede Alexander Isak early in the first half. The loss probably is a stark reminder to Mikel Arteta that he needs a proper striker after all. The loss saw Arsenal giving up their third position to the surprise package of the season so far, Nottingham Forest.
Forest were fighting for survival last season but are seating on third position after dismantling an inconsistent West ham side. The latter played a man down for the whole second half after Alvarez received a red card at the close of the first half. Goals from Chris Wood , Hudson Odoi and Aina condemned West ham to their fifth loss of the campaign whilst propelling Nuno Esposito Santo’s side to third position with a 3-0 win
Here are tge rest of the results today :
Newcastle United 1-0 Arsenal
Liverpool 2- 0Brighton
Bournemouth 2-1 Manchester City
Southampton 1-0 Everton
Nottingham Forest 3-0 West Ham
Ipswich Town 1-1 Leicester City
Late Kick off : Wolves vs Crystal Palace